Bowen: Ford was 'favorite' president

December 28, 2006|Tribune Staff Report

President Gerald R. Ford ranks tops on the list of former Indiana Gov. Otis "Doc" R. Bowen. "He was my favorite president. He was a down-to-earth, gentle, always friendly, always conscientious man," Bowen, 88, said in a telephone interview Wednesday from his home in Bremen. Bowen was Indiana's governor from 1972 to 1980, including the years of the Ford presidency. Bowen, a physician, later served as President Reagan's secretary of Health and Human Services. Bowen recalled the time Ford stayed as his guest at the governor's residence and attended the Indianapolis 500 race. "He got to sit in A.J. Foyt's race car," Bowen said. Ford had been in ill health in recent years. Bowen said he hadn't seen Ford since the early 1980s, but they still exchanged Christmas cards.